Winter Storm
by Jade Nova
Summary: When a winter storm strands Serena Moon in rural Virginia, she manages to find shelter in the home of warm-hearted Gaia Shields and becomes friends with her visiting son, Darien. Might it go beyond friendship? And what will happen when Serena returns to h


This is the result of reading one to many SM romance fics. Hope you   
guys like!  
  
Sailor Moon doesn't belong to me. It belongs to about a million   
different people and companies, who, hopefully, will be too busy with   
their own business to notice this little ficcy!  
  
  
  
Winter Storm, chapter 1  
  
  
  
  
Snow fell down from the sky lightly as it covered the grass and   
the trees. Perfect conditions for sledding or making snowmen when the   
sun rose the next morning. Not perfect conditions for driving.   
Unfortunately, that was exactly what Serena Moon was doing.  
  
She had chosen to drive that year when she visited her father   
in Virginia for Christmas. With the weather, the airlines were prone to   
canceling flights left and right. Somehow she knew thew would find a   
way to cancel the flight heading to Florida. And being a second year   
college student, she couldn't afford to be stuck in an airport when   
classes started up again. She looked out at the road, groaning, as part   
of an old e-mail forward she had received years ago came to mind.  
  
"Warning to northerners visiting Florida. Stay in your hotel   
rooms if you are visiting on one of the two days of the year that the   
roads are icy. We understand you know how to drive in these conditions.   
That doesn't mean we can!" Serena had grown up in Virginia, but when   
her parents divorced, she moved with her mom to Florida. She had   
learned how to drive in Florida. Now she was expected to drive in   
this?!!  
  
The snow began to come down heavier. The man on the radio said   
that they were expecting a snowstorm that night. She looked out the   
windshield as her headlights reflected off a mile sign.  
  
Floyd 7  
  
"So Floyd it'll be then," Serena said softly as she worked to   
keep control of her car.  
  
  
  
  
"Mom, did you turn on the hose?"  
  
"Yes Darien. Will you please relax? You're making me nervous!"  
  
"I just don't want the pipes to freeze up," Darien said softly   
as he sat down in a chair in the living room.  
  
"Darien, I have lived out here for years. I can remember to   
turn on a hose," the older lady said, smiling as she flicked off the   
tv.  
  
Darien smiled tiredly. He knew she could take care of himself.   
She was only in her late 40s. Her hair was as black as his, and it was   
only just beginning to streak with gray. Her dark blue eyes sparked   
with intelligence, also a trait she shared with her 23 year old son.   
About the only thing they didn't have in common was size, something   
Darien obviously had to have gotten from his father. At only five foot   
two, the Shields matron was a dwarf compared to her boy.  
  
"Darien, I think I'm going to go ahead and go to sleep. Knowing   
Sarogh, she'll be calling me first thing in the morning to see if those   
kids of hers can use my hill for sledding." She chuckled as she climbed   
the stairs up to the second floor. "You might want to get some rest   
too. Little kids and sleds always have a way of getting hurt. You might   
be able to get some training tomorrow morning."  
  
"Night mom," Darien said as he stood up and walked into the   
kitchen to get something to eat. "Might as well pop in a movie or   
something," he said to himself as he pulled some leftovers from the   
fridge.  
  
  
  
Serena looked around the town in dismay. Not a single motel,   
bed-and-breakfast, or even a fast food place could be found! A gas   
station offered short-lived hope, until she saw that it was closed.   
Main street consisted of buildings that appeared as if originally built   
in the late 1800s, and the actual size of the town couldn't be more   
then a mile squared.  
  
The major problem was that the snow was beginning to pick up,   
and on the map, Floyd was at least an hour from anything else.  
  
"How can this place survive?!" she thought as she, nervously,   
turned her car back on the road toward the interstate.  
  
She was about ten minutes outside of the city limits when a   
house on the side of the road caught her attention. It was the first   
place she saw with the lights on, and it wasn't a mile away from the   
road.  
  
'I can ask if there is a shortcut to civilization. At this   
rate, I'll never make it home alive.' With those thoughts, she pulled   
the car into the long driveway.  
  
It was a wooden house, and she didn't think it looked very   
warm. The thing had to be full of drafts. Trees almost hid the house   
from the road, and if they hadn't been leafless, she might have driven   
right by without even noticing the place. Windchimes could be seen by   
the light cast from her car hanging on every possible branch or roof   
corner, a great many of them handmade from shells and driftwood. A   
chimney on the roof billowed smoke into the snowy air. Two cars were   
parked in the driveway. One looked just like any other car on the road,   
fairly new as well. The other was rundown and painted all different   
colors and patterns, and had quite a few bumper stickers on the back.   
One that caught her eye read "Goddess Power." Serena couldn't help but   
smile.  
  
"I'm guessing hippies, but I may be wrong," she said to herself   
as she turned off her car. Slipping her keys into her pocket and   
pulling on her jacket in the small space, she got out of the car and   
made a dash for the front door.  
  
  
  
Darien had turned off the tv and was just banking the fire for   
the night. He was just glad he wasn't the one who had to try and get   
the stubborn thing to start in the morning. He never seemed to have   
very good luck with fires. He stood up and went to turn off the lamp in   
the living room when he heard a knock on the door.  
  
"What kind of insane person is out in weather like this?" he   
asked aloud as he went to check. He looked out the window beside the   
door and saw a woman about his age, huddling in her jacket just outside   
the door. She was facing away from him, looking at the yard as she   
waited. "Doesn't look threatening," he said softly, just before he   
opened the door.  
  
"Oh thank you!" the woman said as soon as the door was opened.   
"I was wondering if you could help me." Darien starred at her.   
Snowflakes were caught in her long, pale blond hair, and her cheeks   
were bright red from the cold. The light from the room behind him   
reflected off her pale blue eyes, making them sparkle. "See, I drove   
into town, looking for a place to stay for the night. I'm not really up   
to driving in this weather. But I got into town and there wasn't   
anything there!" He watched her as she told her story. Her eyes   
narrowed as if she were worried about something as she finished her   
last sentence. "I was wondering if you knew where the closest motel   
was. I really don't feel like going through another small town, just to   
find nothing." Darien smiled as she finished. She sounded so lost and   
worried that he found himself unable to control his next words.  
  
"You can stay here. It's supposed to be a really big storm   
tonight, and it's probably a better idea not to get back on the road.   
Besides, the nearest motel is about two hours away at best."  
  
"Oh! I couldn't possibly. I really just need to know which way   
to go. I don't want to get into the habit of getting invited into   
strangers' homes" Darien smiled at her protests.  
  
"Don't worry about it! There is plenty of space in this house."  
  
"I don't want to intrude or anything. If you're sure..." she said   
hesitantly.  
  
"He's sure. Now come in and warm up! Darien, how could you   
leave her outside to freeze?!! Come on dear. Let's get you warmed up."   
The older Shields had come from nowhere when she interrupted. She   
wrapped a blanket around the girl's shivering form as she directed her   
towards the still hot wood stove. "Now my name is Gaia, and this is my   
son, Darien. He's been visiting me for Christmas, though it seems he   
may be stuck a while longer," she said, smiling as she talked to the   
complete stranger. "I hope you don't mind being stuck either. We may   
only have ourselves and my neighbors for company for another few days.   
But I'm sure you can get on your way before long. By the way, what is   
your name?" The girl didn't respond for several moments. Darien smiled   
as he watched her try to catch up with everything that had happened in   
the last few minutes.  
  
"Oh! I'm sorry, my name is Serena."  
  
"What a beautiful name! Do you need anything from your car? I   
can send Darien out to get it for you. Better to get it now then have   
to dig for it tomorrow morning."  
  
  
  
  
Serena wasn't sure what to think. She had never come across   
strangers who were so kind or willing to help out. She smiled as she   
set her bag on the bed. The room Gaia had given her was more then   
enough. Curtains hung over a large window that overlooked the hill and   
forest behind the house. The ceiling was tilted until it was hardly any   
higher then Serena by the window. She doubted that the man now knew as   
Darien could stand up all the way though. The bed was large, at least   
queen sized. The floor was wooden, but was covered almost completely   
with a beautiful rug. The walls were covered in a beautiful mural of a   
meadow, and the ceiling was painted like a sky.  
  
A knock on the door interrupted Serena from her thoughts. The   
door slowly opened and Darien's head poked through.  
  
"Just wanted to check and make sure you had everything."  
  
"Oh, more then enough! Does your mom do this to any stranger   
who stumbles off the road?" Serena said, smiling.  
  
"I think it's just when there's a snowstorm coming, but I can't   
be sure. Who knows how many people she lets in when I'm not here." He   
smiled back at her, stepping into the room completely. "Beautiful,   
isn't it?"  
  
"Its amazing! It looks almost real! Who did it?"  
  
"My father. When he and my mom bought this place, they decided   
they wanted to do something amazing with it. The room I have when I'm   
here has a seascape painted on the walls. It's just the smaller rooms   
though. The living room for example, isn't painted."  
  
"Where is he now?"  
  
"He died about five years back," Darien replied, his voice   
soft.  
  
"Oh! I'm so sorry."  
  
"Don't worry. I've gotten over it. I can't be sad forever.   
Besides, he had a full life." Darien smiled again, and Serena found   
herself getting weak in the knees. "When you wake up in the morning, we   
can see about getting you on your way again. Just hope for the best. My   
mom may end up being right, and we won't be able to get out of here for   
a week or so. Goodnight!"  
  
"Night," Serena replied, smiling. She suddenly found she didn't   
mind getting home late anymore.  
  
  
  
  
  
Wow, my first alt romance SM only fic!! I must be completely   
insane. I've got three other stories going on, and I decide to start a   
fourth?!?! I just had to write this up though! I got the idea, and I   
didn't feel like working on Son Usagi (one of my other stories), so I   
wrote this up today. Wow, I'm beginning to be as bad as M-chan!   
(Eternal SailorM)  
  
Son Usagi is next, for those of you who are reading my other   
stories. I promise!!  
  
  
  
  
~Jade Nova  
moon_archer82@lunap.com 


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